Despite popular belief, Neolithic well proves advanced carpentry predates working with metal

[Shabumi]

Not directly associated with iron, but still interesting.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0051374

[Frosty]

I'll have to put this one on my reading list too. Cool, I love this stuff, thanks for the link.

Are you familiar with Gobekli Tepe? It sort of blows the old assumption that agriculture preceded permanent settlements. The ruins of Gobekli Tepe appear to be some 12,000 years old though there is (of course) arguments. One of the really cool things are how many beer vats there are. It is evidently a religious structure and predates agriculture in the vicinity. Seems to support the number of people required to build and maintain it folks had to start growing their food, hunting and gathering didn't cover it.  

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[SLAG]

Mr. S.,

Outstanding article.  A real eye-opening discovery.  A giant step towards a better understanding of a very early time in man's history.

Thanks for the reference.

SLAG.

[Shabumi]

I'm glad I'm not the only one interested in this part of the past.

I'd heard of Gobekli Tepi before, but i hadn't heard of the beer vats. Perhaps it was alcohol that started civilization and farming was a way to make it in large quantities. 

I found the site when I was looking into GMO bioluminescent plants, and found the search function. Beware though, I put in iron and there were 72 pages, mostly about micro particles of iron oxide used to treat cancers and tumors.

As for early farming, another article on proto-weeds from the same site shows that weeds have been a part of farming since its inception. They were found among the earliest known small scale farm on the shore of Galilee 23,000 years ago.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131422

[Frosty]

From the most recent evidence I'm aware of, beer predates bread by a pretty wide margin. It's a higher value food than bread for the same amount of grain, higher than the grain itself, has a much longer shelf life and is reasonably sterile. Also unlike bread beer can be made from virtually any non-toxic seed. Last but not least it is a mood enhancer. 

For decades it was believed the small structure foundations laid out like a town on the plateau in "front" of the pyramids in Egypt were housing. More recent research revealed beer vats out numbered bread ovens something like 10:1. Beer and veggies appear to be the meal that was part of the pay package for the workers.

There was a great program on one of the edu. channels, maybe Nat Geo, I don't recall with a title something like "Beer Built The Pyramids." It was more than a little interesting and provided a lot of search term rabbit holes. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

We all know that beer makes you smarter.

Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”

[JHCC]

"Malt does more than Milton can/To justify God's ways to man." 

-- A. E. Housman, "A Shropshire Lad"

[SLAG]

9 minutes ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

 

Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. 

That was the prevailing view and biological teaching.  But it was discovered,  about 12 years ago,  that alcohol merely temporarily anesthetizes those cells.  

Excessive alcohol consumption can destroy braincells and bring on dementia. i.e.  Pick's disease.  (now called frontotemporal temporal degeneration.  Say that three times when you're hammered).

Sincerely   SLAG.

[Frosty]

14 minutes ago, SLAG said:

Excessive alcohol consumption can destroy braincells and bring on dementia.

Most commonly by falling on your head repeatedly, though the wife taking a rolling pin or skillet to it when you come stumbling home can be hard on the brain cells too. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[SLAG]

Frosty,

How cruel!!

SLAG.

[Frosty]

Agreed, making the spousal unit put up with a drunk in the middle of the night is cruel enough to deserve a little nogginating. Rolling pins, the kitchen thwocker!

Frosty The Lucky.